ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates that belief has been a significant resource in research participants' experience of loss, and has impacted their aptitude for care. Consequently, rather than just being encouraged to clarify their own spiritual stance, nurses may also benefit from a more extensive exploration of the role of belief in meaning making. The chapter considers material that might facilitate such development. Establishing belief is a complex process impacted by individual development and experience. The timing of a decline in religious or spiritual interest appears to coincide with children"s introduction to the traditions of science, often accompanied by religious skepticism. Education that explores different perspectives and patterns of the development of belief can benefit nurses in their understanding of the relationship between belief and meaning, and therefore enhance their theoretical base for the spiritual development of practice.
